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WNBA playoff projections: Will Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever make the cut?

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WNBA playoff projections: Will Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever make the cut?

The WNBA is already full speed ahead into the second half of the season, and it is going to be a sprint to the finish. Regular-season action ends in exactly one month, with each team packing 12-14 games in the final stretch.

As players re-acclimate to following the Olympic break and make one last push for the postseason, here is a look at which teams I project will make the playoffs as well as a to-do list for each team to focus on to be in the best possible position come playoff time.


Playoff-bound

1. New York Liberty

Stay the course

The Liberty remind me of the Aces at this point last season. New York is the best team in the league, and a couple of bad games or a bad week won’t change that, just as an August swoon for Las Vegas didn’t prevent the Aces from repeating as champs. It will be interesting to see if the Liberty choose to chase the single-season wins record of 34, set by the Aces last year. New York can also tie the best winning percentage of all-time — the Houston Comets won 90 percent of their games in 1998 — by winning out, but that might be a Pyrrhic victory if the Liberty tire themselves out and don’t cap off the season with a ring. Just ask the 2016 Golden State Warriors.

2. Minnesota Lynx

Inject a little variety

The Lynx are loaded with jump shooters, but they don’t put a ton of pressure on the rim, as they’re last in points in the paint and free-throw rate. That makes them too reliant on the 3-point shot for a long series, even when they have four rotation players (Kayla McBride, Alanna Smith, Bridget Carleton and Cecilia Zandalasini) shooting better than 40 percent from the field. When they shoot below 35.5 percent from 3-point range (league average is 33.8), they’re 5-5. Once defenses lock in on taking away the 3-point line — the Liberty, in particular, seem well-suited to switch everything against them — it’s unclear how the Lynx will generate consistent offense.

3. Connecticut Sun

Diversify the offensive attack

The Sun are essentially the inverse of the Lynx in terms of their offensive profile. They know what they have in the big three of Alyssa Thomas, Bri Jones and DeWanna Bonner. But that trio hasn’t been able to get Connecticut over the hump in the postseason, so the rest of this regular season should serve as reconnaissance for the Sun — they need to figure out which perimeter player, or which perimeter actions, can take over when defenses home in on the frontcourt. Connecticut has leaned into two-player actions with the newly-acquired Marina Mabrey and Thomas, but against the Atlanta Dream defense, which sinks into the paint, the Sun’s spacing still wasn’t good enough. Connecticut needs to create more options in the half court, including increasing its 3-point attempt rate. Currently, 21.2 percent of the Sun’s points come from beyond the arc, which isn’t enough against high-powered offensive teams like the Aces and the Liberty.

4. Las Vegas Aces

Give the stars some rest

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The Aces have the bones of the team that won last year’s title, but they haven’t been able to put together that formula consistently. It’s hard to believe that team isn’t still there, especially after watching A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young have such strong showings at the Paris Olympics. The problem is that the Aces have a big hill to climb in the standings, and their players have endured heavy minutes this year, not to mention the extra burden of multiple investigations into the organization. They may not have the gas to make it through an entire playoff run if they maintain the same minutes load. As a result, even though it’s anathema to their stars, as Becky Hammon indicated on The Athletic’s “Women’s Basketball Show” earlier this year, they’ll likely have to participate in some measure of load management. Young already looks worn down after returning from Paris, and she’s arguably Las Vegas’ second-most important player. Even if it hurts them in the standings, the Aces have to take the long view.

5. Seattle Storm

Get Jewell Loyd out of her slump

The Storm’s 3-point shooting has been atrocious in 2024, with a league-worst 29.3 percent from long range. Seattle isn’t exactly bursting with snipers, but when the player who is taking more than a quarter of the team’s 3-point attempts is shooting 26 percent from distance, that’s a problem. The theory was that Jewell Loyd’s shooting percentages would improve with a lighter offensive load given the arrival of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike, but that hasn’t been the case. Nothing looks wrong with Loyd’s form, and she’s still making more than 87 percent of her free throws, so it seems like a matter of time until the worm turns, but the Storm’s offense can’t survive without Loyd becoming more efficient.

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6. Indiana Fever

Be more disciplined defensively

The Fever have several defensive concerns, as is to be expected for a team that is second-to-last in defensive rating. Many of those problems have been mitigated by their rip-roaring offense in recent games, but the main issue is how often they send opposing teams to the foul line. It would be easier to forgive opponents’ high free-throw rate if Indiana forced a lot of turnovers — those free throws would simply be a casualty of Indiana’s aggression. However, the Fever rank last in opponent turnover percentage and 11th in defensive free-throw rate. They can afford to be less handsy because they’re not taking the ball anyway; furthermore, per PBP stats, they score 6.7 more points per 100 possessions off of made field goals than made free throws.

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7. Phoenix Mercury

Rebound

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Some teams prioritize the defensive glass, others the offensive glass. With the Mercury, corralling boards is a struggle on both ends. They rank 11th in both offensive rebounding percentage and defensive rebounding percentage. Some of this is structural, as Phoenix generally plays a bevy of wings and only one true frontcourt player, whether that’s Brittney Griner or Natasha Mack. The Mercury have gotten even smaller with the injury to Rebecca Allen, which has further compromised their possession disadvantage — the opposing team took 14 more field-goal attempts in each of their first two games of the second half. The roster won’t change meaningfully from now until the end of the season; at this point, Phoenix has to commit to boxing out better.

8. Atlanta Dream

Play more optimal lineup combinations

The Dream had a relatively disastrous first half, especially since they gave up control of their 2025 first-round pick in the Allisha Gray trade — that deal was the right move for Atlanta in the long run, but it does negate the value of tanking ahead of what could be a game-changing draft. That’s why the Dream have to maximize their present and make a run at the playoffs despite losing eight straight heading into the Olympic break.

Fortunately for the Dream, Atlanta is finally healthy enough to maximize its roster. Even after winning two in a row, the Dream sit last in the league in offensive rating at 94.8 points per 100 possessions, which would be the worst mark in the WNBA since 2021. The five players who have a positive on-off differential on offense are Gray, Tina Charles, Naz Hillmon, Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada, but they were never available at the same time during the first half. They are now, and Tanisha Wright has started that group in the last two contests, leading to two big wins over Seattle and Connecticut. That’s a unit that complements each other’s skill sets with rim pressure, shooting and perimeter and interior defense, and Atlanta needs to maximize their minutes going forward.


Chasing the post-season

9. Chicago Sky

Unleash Dana Evans

The Sky have five players under contract next season, two of whom figure to be part of the future core in Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Dana Evans will be a restricted free agent, so Chicago can keep her around on a long-term contract if she shows compatibility with the frontcourt duo. Thus far, Lindsay Allen and Chennedy Carter have been far better perimeter complements, but this is Evans’ chance to make her case to stick around. Even if it doesn’t go well, losing isn’t the worst-case scenario for the Sky, which could still land in the lottery if they and the Wings both miss the playoffs.

10. Dallas Wings

Clean up turnovers

At some point, we’ll stop talking about the hole at Dallas’ point guard position. Today is not that day. The Wings had their first-choice starting five available against Connecticut to kick off the second half of the season, and all that led to was 21 turnovers, even worse than their league-leading mark of 16.6 per game. Sevgi Uzun hasn’t been the answer at point guard; 19.4 percent of her possessions result in a turnover, which ranks 135th among all WNBA players. Last year’s three-headed point guard attack of Crystal Dangerfield, Veronica Burton and Odyssey Sims is all on other teams, leaving Uzun and rookie Jacy Sheldon (who really isn’t a natural lead guard) to handle those duties, and struggles have been clear.

In fairness to those rookies, post-ups naturally lead to more turnovers, and Dallas (arguably the biggest team in the league) ranks second in post-ups per game. Nevertheless, many of the Wings’ errors are unforced, potentially a result of their mishmash of players not being on the same page. Perhaps better health will lead to more cohesion because Dallas needs to take care of its possessions to get back into the playoff picture.

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11. Los Angeles Sparks

Turn the Paige

Unfortunately for long-suffering Sparks fans who have witnessed their team make three consecutive trips to the lottery, a fourth is in the best long-term interest of the franchise, especially after rookie Cameron Brink tore her ACL in June. L.A. doesn’t have the talent to compete in the playoffs, and it doesn’t make sense to chase the eighth seed for a two-game sweep, especially when the Sparks control their first-round pick this year but not in 2026. Ideally, L.A. features its young players as much as possible and sees what Rickea Jackson, Rae Burrell, Zia Cooke and Li Yueru are capable of before the 2025 offseason, when the Sparks will have to build a roster that can contend. Falling to the bottom of the standings (L.A. is currently two games “ahead” of Washington for the worst record over two years) will enable the Sparks to have the best possible lottery odds for the Paige Bueckers draft. She’s the perfect perimeter complement to their rookie frontcourt of Brink and Jackson.

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12. Washington Mystics

Re-establish Shakira Austin

After an all-rookie campaign in 2022 that culminated in a spot on the Team USA FIBA World Cup roster, Austin hasn’t been healthy enough to recreate that level of play for consistent stretches. Now that she’s back for the Mystics, this is their chance to reacclimate Austin to WNBA play while seeing how she fits next to Aaliyah Edwards. Washington will likely have at least one, if not two, lottery picks in the upcoming draft, and the front office needs to figure out if the franchise needs another frontcourt piece, or if Austin and Edwards can be the fulcrums going forward. The good news for the Mystics is that they have competent guard play in Julie Vanloo and Brittney Sykes, so they can adequately evaluate their frontcourt in that context.

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(Photo of  Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)

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Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit

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Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit

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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue. 

Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June. 

Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male. 

 

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Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports. 

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling. 

“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.

Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case. 

(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

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“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital. 

“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13. 

Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters. 

With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.

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Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college. 

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice. 

Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”

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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)

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SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.

“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said. 

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Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush

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Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush

Myles Garrett is in a hurry to become the greatest pass rusher in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end set the single-season sack record in 2025 and has cracked the top 20 career leaders after only nine seasons.

“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.

Off the field, however, his urgency to get from point A to B is a problem. He’s accumulating speeding tickets at an alarming rate.

On Feb. 21, Garrett was handed his ninth speeding ticket since his NFL career began in 2017. He was cited for driving 94 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.

The citation from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says Garrett was driving his green 2024 Porsche at 1:35 a.m., returning home after attending a Miami of Ohio basketball game in Oxford.

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Body cam footage shows the officer telling Garrett that she kept the charge under 100 mph so that a court appearance wouldn’t be mandatory. Garrett reportedly still holds a Texas driver’s license — he attended Texas A&M — and told the officer that he did not have an Ohio license.

Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett wears a jacket displaying his girlfriend Chloe Kim before the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy.

(Lindsey Wasson / AP)

The officer wrote that the famously affable Garrett was “kind and cooperative,” and that drugs and alcohol were not a factor.

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Garrett’s need for speed flies in the face of his persona. He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.

His girlfriend is two-time gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, for whom he wrote a poem he shared on social media: “You enrapture fools to kings, and exist without a peer, put on this Earth for many things, but our love is why you’re here.”

Verse hasn’t slowed his roll. On Aug. 9 he was cited for ticket No. 8, clocked at 100 mph in a 60-mph zone in a Cleveland suburb a day after the Browns returned home from a preseason game at Carolina.

Garrett’s seventh ticket followed a frightening crash in 2022. He flipped his gray 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S off State Road in Sharon Township and he and a female passenger were injured. He was cited for failing to control his vehicle due to unsafe speeds on what had been a slick roadway.

A witness told a responding police officer that Garrett’s vehicle went airborne, took out a fire hydrant and rolled three times. Garrett sustained shoulder and biceps sprains and was sidelined for the Browns’ game that week against the Atlanta Falcons. His companion was not seriously injured.

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Cleveland television station WKYC reported that in September 2021 Garrett was stopped twice in a 24-hour period — for driving 120 and 105 mph. The infractions occurred on Interstate 71 in Medina County, where the speed limit is 70 mph, and he paid fines of $267 and $287.

A year earlier, Garrett was cited for driving 100 mph in a 65-mph zone of Interstate 77 — again while driving a Porsche — and paid a $308 fine. He accumulated his first batch of speeding tickets in 2017 and 2018, and the police reports recite similar circumstances: Garrett driving well over the speed limit, cited without incident, paid a nominal fine.

The piddly fines certainly aren’t a deterrent. Garrett, 30, and the Browns agreed to a four-year contract extension in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The deal pays the seven-time All-Pro more than $40 million a season and includes more than $123 million in guaranteed money.

He set the NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 last season, surpassing the 22.5 accumulated by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Garrett has 125.5 career sacks, averaging 14 a season, a pace that would enable him to break Bruce Smith’s career record of 200 in five years.

“That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get,” Garrett said. “That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”

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Garrett has declined to discuss his driving habits.

“I’d honestly prefer to talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off the field other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” he told reporters after ticket No. 8 in August, referring to a charity appearance.

“I try to keep my personal life personal. And I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”

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Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death

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Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death

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Former ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called late legendary college football coach Lou Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead. 

“Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights. 

Olbermann received scathing criticism in response to his post on X.

 

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“You’re a scumbag that needs mental help,” one X user wrote to Olbermann. 

One user echoed that sentiment, writing to Olbermann, “You’re the real scumbag here. Lou Holtz had more class, integrity, and genuine decency in his pinky finger than you’ll ever show in your lifetime.”

Another user wrote, “You’re a grumpy, lonely, Godless man. All the things Lou Holtz was not.”

Keith Olbermann speaks onstage during the Olbermann panel at the ESPN portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel July 24, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif.  (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash.

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After the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win, Olbermann heavily criticized the team for accepting an invitation from President Trump to the State of the Union address. Olbermann wrote on X that any members of the men’s team who attended the event were “declaring their indelible stupidity and misogyny,” while praising the women’s team for declining the invitation.

In January, Olbermann attacked former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler for celebrating a women’s rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for two cases focused on the legality of biological male trans athletes in women’s sports.

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz listens before being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec, 3, 2020.  (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It’s still about you trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to succeed in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post. 

In 2025, Olbermann faced significant backlash after posting (and later deleting) a message on X aimed at CNN contributor Scott Jennings, that said, “You’re next motherf—–,” shortly after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. 

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Holtz was a stern supporter of President Donald Trump, even saying in February 2024 that Trump needed to “coach America back to greatness!”

Near the end of Trump’s first term, shortly after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, Trump awarded Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States. 

After Holtz’s death was announced Wednesday, several top GOP figures paid tribute to the coach on social media. 

Those GOP lawmakers included senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; representatives Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Steve Womack, R-Ark.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Indiana Gov. Mike Braun; U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon; and Rudy Giuliani.

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Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, addresses the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis July 26, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

At the time of publication, prominent Democrat leaders have appeared silent on Holtz’s passing, including prominent Democrats with a football background. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who worked as an assistant high school football coach; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was a recruiting target for Holtz in 1986 as a college prospect; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who played in the NFL; and Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Ill., who played football for the University of Illinois, have not posted acknowledging Holtz’s death. 

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